1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to bead breakers for vehicle tires and more particularly is concerned with a lightweight, portable, simply operated bead breaker for oversize, all-terrain vehicle tires. Said all terrain vehicles sometimes referred to as "3 wheelers" or "4 wheelers".
2. Description of Prior Art
In replacing tires or fixing flat tires, it is necessary to separate the bead of the tires from the rim of the wheel. During normal tire removal, it has been common practice, whether by manual or mechanical means, to apply a force to the tire sidewall, near the tire bead, thereby jarring or prying the tire bead loose from the wheel rim. Due to stiff sidewall construction, normal tires retain a general configuration as said force is applied to the area of the sidewall near the tire bead, thereby transferring said force to the area of the tire bead and effecting separation of the bead and wheel rim. However, off-road, all-terrain vehicles utilize oversized, low-pressure tires having extremely flexible sidewall construction to provide a smooth, bump-free ride over rough terrain. Said extremely flexible sidewall construction does not lend itself for use with prior art tire bead breaking devices, since the flexible tire sidewall does not maintain its general shape and gives way to said force and said force is not transferred to the area of the tire bead. Also, since low air pressure is utilized in ATV tires, most rims for same are provided with a raised annular safety hump or lip adjacent to the tire's inner edge. Although, said lip acts as a retaining flange and provides a safety advantage in that the tire is not easily moved away from the wheel bead seat, it also, makes removing the tire from the rim extremely difficult. Attempts to modify conventional tire changing machines by applying a lateral, inward force concurrent with a downward force to the bead pressing member of said machine, so that the bead pressing member scrapes the tire bead over said annular safety lip generally results in damage being done to the tire. Most service stations will not repair ATV tires, since the only method here-to-fore available envolves breaking the tire bead from the wheel rim by tedious, dangerous and slow, manual methods, generally using a hammer, wedge and pry bar.